We rose at dark, and headed out for another night of fun. Reaching the topside of the cliff, I saw Anna was already there. Not many people sat out on the cliff; it could get very windy and knock you off your feet. Dwayne grinned and grabbed her round the waist. Anna's body stiffened and she moved away. I was just as confused as Dwayne.
"What's wrong?" I grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her around to face me. She glared at me
"Bad dreams." She was bitter about something. I tightened my grip as she tried to turn away from me. Her eyes blazed. "Let me go!" she snarled, tugging against my gloved grip. If she were going to be a part of the Pack, she would have to learn to respect my leadership. This was a prime example. I squeezed harder, well beyond any human strength.
Anna was biting her lip, trying not to cry out against the pain. Still she struggled. Her skin was just about to tear when Dwayne's hand grabbed my shoulder hard, his other hand grabbing my hand that was on Anna's arm.
"Let go." He growled hard. I glared at him. Now Dwayne was going to start defying me as well?
"I am the leader here," I snarled back. "You aren't."
"You're hurting her, let go," Dwayne said, eyes darkening.
Star chimed in, pleading with me from where she stood next to Marko. "Please," she said softly. "Don't hurt her."
"Come on David, it's not worth it," Paul said. His tone was laughing but there was seriousness in his eyes. "Just let her go."
I looked at each of my boys. All but Marko had said something in defensive of Anna. Marko hadn't said anything in words but I felt him agreeing with them. They were all defying my leadership over a girl. In the back of my mind I knew why: there was just something about Anna. Something we all had to find, see it through to the end.
I let Anna go. Anna stumbled back, her other hand moving to cradle her arm. Blood slid from the bite marks on her lip and her eyes were shiny with pain. Dwayne moved to stand before her, purposefully turning his back on me. Fine. It was obvious he had already chosen her and it wasn't a big surprise to me. Dwayne checked her arm over while the rest of us stood in silence. The wind whipped around us, tugging at my trench coat.
Then Dwayne was kissing Anna. I could feel as well as see the change nearly come over him. She must have split her lip enough to bleed and Dwayne had tasted it through the kiss. Anna kissed him back though, for a long moment, before finally pulling away. She gasped for air and glared at Dwayne before pulling away roughly and heading for her bike.
"Are we going to town or what?" she asked, voice hard. Rebuffed, Dwayne threw himself on his bike and pulled Laddie on. Star was frowning as she climbed up behind me. "Just go." She whispered in my ear. "I'll talk to her later."
I nodded tersely; what choice did I have?